Welfare crackdown was to apply to all families with more than two children.

Amber Rudd will scrap controversial plans to retrospectively slash benefits for families with more than two children just weeks before they were due to come into force.

Since April 2017, two-child families receiving Universal Credit have not been able to claim support for any children born after that date, with the government arguing that benefit claimants “should face the same financial choices about having children” as working families.